The Ebola outbreak in DR Congo has become a global health emergency

The World Health Organization (W.H.O) said on Wednesday that the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo was a public health emergency of international concern.

This is the second most serious Ebola outbreak of all time in DR Congo.

The decision to declare the epidemic a public health emergency of international concern was taken several months after the WHO refused, despite calls for health experts.

World Health Organization President Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called on countries to "take action and redouble their efforts".

He said it was time to "work together in solidarity with the DRC to end this epidemic and put in place a better health system" for its inhabitants.

"Extraordinary work has been accomplished for almost a year under the most difficult circumstances," said Tedros.

The decision was taken following the fourth meeting of the Emergency Committee of the International Health Regulations to badess the epidemic, at the UN in Geneva.

Tedros said, "We all need stakeholders – not only from WHO but also from government, partners and communities – to take on more of this burden."

Public health emergency

WHO defines the Public Health Emergency of Public Concern (PHEIC) as "an extraordinary event that is considered to pose a public health risk to other states as a result of the international spread of the disease and potentially coordinated international response ".

This definition refers to a situation that is:

• Serious, sudden, unusual or unexpected.
• Implicate public health consequences beyond the national borders of the affected State.
• May require immediate international action

The WHO, in a statement, "cited recent developments in the epidemic in formulating its recommendation, including the first confirmed case in Goma, a city of nearly two million residents located at the border. Rwandan, and the gateway to the rest of the DRC and the world. "

Up to now, there have been more than 2,500 cases of infection.

Nearly 1,670 people died in the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu, where several armed groups and lack of local trust hampered efforts to control the epidemic.

Source: Africafeeds.com